The Unicyclist is Back

For the few of us that commute on the Folsom South Canal trail between Hazel Blvd and Sunrise Blvd, there are two distinct cycling seasons each year. Unicyclist season and winter*.

The unicyclist appears between 6 and 7 am on mornings there’s enough light to navigate the unlit path without a headlamp. He wears Lycra shorts (never pants) and an unmarked blue jersey. Sometimes he wears a coat. No helmet. I’ve seen him as early as 6 and as late as 7:45. It seems that at some point in the morning he scrambles down the steep embankment and onto the trail, unicycle in hand, then mounts the one wheeled machine and pedals toward Tributary Point. When he arrives at Tributary Point he turns around and rides the other direction. Sometimes he can be seen stretching at the mouth of the tunnel the passes under Highway 50.

Every bike commuter I have talked to on that stretch of the trail knows about the unicyclist. He waves at everyone who passes.

There’s something about the ridiculousness of a fully kitted middle-aged man getting up every morning to workout on a unicycle that makes me extremely happy.

*There’s a reasonable chance he unicycles the same route during the winter but later in the day when we don’t cross paths.